We see a lot of small business websites that look alright but don't actually do anything useful. They sit there, maybe get a few visitors, but nobody gets in touch. Usually it comes down to a few things that are easy to fix once you know what to look for.
1. Tell people what to do next
This sounds obvious but you'd be amazed how many websites don't have a clear next step. Someone's read about your services, they're interested... now what? If there's no button to get a quote, no phone number in an obvious spot, no contact form, they'll just leave. Every page should make it dead simple to take the next step.
2. Make sure it works on phones
More than half of all web traffic is on mobile now. If your site looks rubbish on a phone or the text is tiny and the buttons are impossible to tap, you've lost most of your visitors before they've even read a word. This isn't a nice-to-have anymore. It's the bare minimum.
3. It needs to load fast
People won't wait around. If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, a huge chunk of visitors will just hit the back button. Google also ranks faster sites higher in search results, so slow sites get less traffic on top of losing the visitors they do get. Double whammy.
4. Show some proof that you're good
Reviews, photos of your work, testimonials from happy customers. Anything that shows you've done this before and people were chuffed with the result. Most people won't pick up the phone until they feel like they can trust you, and your website is where that trust gets built.
5. Help Google find you
SEO doesn't have to be complicated. Making sure your pages have proper titles, a decent description, and that your site loads quickly already puts you ahead of most local competition. If you're a roofer in Durham, your website should make it obvious to Google that you're a roofer in Durham. That's really the gist of it.
None of this is rocket science. Get these five things right and your website will actually start doing some work for you instead of just sitting there collecting dust.